📩Letter - People Power United sends a letter to Department of Education to provide student debt relief to borrowers facing hardship
🗽A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.
People Power United joined other local, state, and national groups to send a letter to the Department of Education and applauds the Department’s proposed NPRM to provide student debt relief to borrowers experiencing hardship and urges the Administration to finalize the rule and provide as much automatic relief as possible.
Shout out to Student Borrower Protection Center for leading this effort. Here is the letter sent on behalf of our People Power United membership:
May 17, 2024
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, DC, 20202
Re: Docket ID ED–2023–OPE–0123
Dear Secretary Cardona,
We the undersigned 229 organizations representing millions of students, borrowers, workers, people of color, veterans, people with disabilities, and consumers crushed under the weight of the student loan debt crisis submit this comment in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s (the Department) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), published to the Federal Register on April 17, 2024 to provide student loan debt relief to millions of Americans using available authorities under the Higher Education Act (HEA).
We applaud the Department's ongoing commitment to delivering on President Biden’s promise of sweeping student loan debt relief. For too long, the student loan debt crisis has inhibited homeownership, hindered retirement savings, stifled small business formation, exacerbated racial and economic inequities and widened the racial wealth gap, worsened economic insecurity for the most vulnerable borrowers, including seniors and people with disabilities and worsened health disparities and the mental health crisis. When President Biden was elected, millions of Americans urged him to tackle the student debt crisis as the intergenerational, racial, gender and economic justice issue that it is and we have been proud to see President Biden answer these calls and continue the fight to deliver the relief he has promised. Over the last three years, the Biden Administration has made history delivering an unprecedented $160 billion in student loan debt relief to more than 4.5 million student loan borrowers by ensuring that borrowers are finally able to get the relief they have been entitled to under federal law.
While the relief delivered thus far has been monumental, tens of millions of borrowers were robbed of sweeping relief when the conservative majority of the Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s original debt relief program. The Biden Administration’s proposed NPRM
represents a glimmer of hope for these millions of borrowers and their families that have been forced to wait for nearly two years for much-needed relief. Therefore, it is critical that the Department move swiftly and urgently to finalize and implement these rules and deploy necessary relief to the estimated 30 million working Americans who will benefit from them.
We applaud the Department for proposing a thorough array of regulations that could provide automatic relief to tens of millions of borrowers and urge the Administration to consider the following recommendations to strengthen the proposed NPRM and ensure the final rules are as generous as possible.
● Address run away interest for all borrowers by eliminating the arbitrary income caps for borrowers on an Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, eliminating or drastically increasing the $20,000 cap on interest relief for all other eligible borrowers, and providing borrowers cancellation of underlying balances. We applaud the Administration’s effort to eliminate runaway interest but worry the current proposal will unfairly exclude borrowers who also desperately need relief—especially Black and brown borrowers in particular, who due to the lack of generational wealth accumulation and ongoing wage discrimination have had to borrow more for college and are more likely to struggle in repayment.
● Extend automatic relief for borrowers with loans older than 20/25 years on a rolling basis to avoid a “cliff effect” that will unfairly leave millions of borrowers behind who may have missed this time frame by a mere month. Doing so would build on the improvements the Department has made to the student loan repayment system and set a critical backstop to the efforts under the IDR Account Adjustment.
● Provide relief to borrowers who are victims of servicing errors and abuse. While the Biden Administration has held MOHELA, Maximus and other servicers accountable by withholding payments and requiring servicers to place affected borrowers into short administrative forbearance while errors are fixed, the Administration can and must do more by providing additional pathways to cancel student debt for victims of servicer error.
● Immediately unveil proposed NPRM related to supporting borrowers experiencing hardship. We applaud the Department for coming back to the negotiating table to develop a hardship proposal and urge the Administration to also prioritize relief for these borrowers.
Last summer, President Biden stood before the American people and reaffirmed his commitment to deliver student debt relief to millions of working families by utilizing every legal tool available. The proposed NPRM presents a monumental opportunity to ensure this relief becomes a reality for 30 million Americans and their families. It is critical that the Department work with the utmost urgency to ensure that this package of rules is finalized and implemented as swiftly and efficiently as possible. Millions of borrowers and their families have waited long enough.
We stand ready to work in partnership with the Biden Administration to push this relief across the finish line.
Sincerely,
National Organizations
A. Phillip Randolph Institute
Affordable Homeownership Foundation Inc
AFGE Local 252
AFL-CIO
AFT
Amazon Labor Union
American Association of University Professors
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Blue Future
Center for American Progress
Center for Law and Social Policy
Center for Responsible Lending
Clearinghouse on Women's Issues
Coalition on Human Needs
Consumer Federation of America
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
Council on Social Work Education
CWA
Dream Defenders
EdTrust
Equity Research Cooperative (EqRC)
Faith in Action Network
Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network
Fosterus
Generation Hope
Hispanic Federation
Houston Federation of Teachers
Independent Staff Union (staff of NTEU)
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) 3
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
MDC
Minority Veterans of America
MomsRising
MoveOn
MPower Change Action Fund
NAACP
National Action Network
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Association of Social Workers
National Association of Student Loan Lawyers
National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
National Coalition for the Homeless, Bring America Home NOW Campaign National Consumers League
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
National Disability Institute
National Education Association
National Nurses United
National Organization for Women Foundation
National Young Farmers Coalition
Opportunity Youth United
Our Revolution
Our Turn
People Power United
Presente.org
Public Citizen
Public Counsel
Public Good Law Center
Rise
RootsAction.org
Rural Coalition
Secular Student Alliance
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Social Security Works
Student Borrower Protection Center
Student Debt Crisis Center
Supermajority
The Autistic People of Color Fund
The Debt Collective
The Hope Center at Temple University
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United) uAspire
UnidosUS
United Auto Workers
We the 45 Million
Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture (WANDA) Young Invincibles
State Organizations
AFGE Local 704
AFT Washington
AKPIRG
Alabama State Association of Cooperatives
American Federation of Teachers - New Mexico
ARISE
Arizona Students' Association
CAMEO Network
CASH Campaign of Maryland
CFT - A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals Church Women United in New York State
Colorado Fiscal Institute
Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (Delaware)
Community Service Society of New York
E5 Enterprise
Economic Action Maryland
Generation Up
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
GRACE - End Child Poverty CA
Hawaii State Teachers Association
HFT
Labor Network for Sustainability
Maine Center for Economic Policy
Maine Education Association
Maryland Center for Collegiate Financial Wellness
Mountain State Justice, Inc.
National Association of Social Workers, Ohio Chapter
National Council of Jewish Women-PA
New Era Colorado
New Hampshire Youth Movement
New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc. New Jersey Citizen Action
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
NextGen California
NTS Group, CEA, EOF, USCAN, CO Dem. Party - Energy & Environ. Initiative, Super Cap LLC
Ohio Student Association
Oregon Student Association
Passengers United
Progress Virginia
Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
Public Justice Center
Quiet Creek Herb Farm & School of Country Living
RAISE Texas
Rural Advancement Fund of the National Sharecroppers Fund, Inc.
SEIU Local 500
South Carolina Legal Justice Center
Student Loan Fund
Students United
The Collaborative of NC
The Freedom BLOC
THE ONE LESS FOUNDATION
Towards Justice
UC-AFT Local 1474
United Campus Workers Arizona, CWA Local 7065
United University Professions
United Vision for Idaho
Vermont-NEA
Virginia Poverty Law Center
Washington Education Association
Wisconsin Education Association Council
Women Employed
WV Citizen Action
National Association of Social Workers DC Metro Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Alabama Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Alaska Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Arizona Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Arkansas Chapter National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Colorado Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Connecticut Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Delaware Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Florida Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Georgia Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Guam Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Idaho Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Indiana Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Iowa Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Kansas Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Kentucky Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Louisiana Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Maine Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Maryland Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Massachusetts Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Michigan Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Minnesota Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Mississippi Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Missouri Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Montana Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Nebraska Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Nevada Chapter National Association of Social Workers, New Hampshire Chapter National Association of Social Workers, New Jersey Chapter National Association of Social Workers, New Mexico Chapter National Association of Social Workers, New York City Chapter National Association of Social Workers, New York State Chapter National Association of Social Workers, North Carolina Chapter National Association of Social Workers, North Dakota Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Oklahoma Chapter
National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Pennsylvania Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Puerto Rico Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Rhode Island Chapter National Association of Social Workers, South Carolina Chapter National Association of Social Workers, South Dakota Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Texas Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Utah Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Vermont Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Virgin Islands Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Virginia Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Washington Chapter National Association of Social Workers, West Virginia Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Wisconsin Chapter National Association of Social Workers, Wyoming Chapter
Local Organizations
Action Together NEPA
AFT Local 604
Albuquerque Teachers Federation
Alief American Federation of Teachers and School Employees Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (UAW Local 2325) Bastrop Federation of Teachers
Civil Service Bar Association
Colchester Federation of Teachers Local 1807
College Now Greater Cleveland
Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Taskforce Graduate and Professional Student Council, University of Arizona Hartford Federation of Teachers
Houston Federation of Teachers #2415
Houston ISD
Inversant
LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland
little listeners of the Carolina / LLOTC
Long Beach Gray Panthers
Miami Valley Fair Housing Center
Northside AFT
Old Town Teachers Organization, Local 909 Professional Staff Union, MTA/NEA
Psja Aft
San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel San Francisco Rising
The Miami Valley Fair Housing Center
The New York Women's Foundation
UIC United Faculty, AFT-AAUP Local 6456 Western Massachusetts Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
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People Power United champions progressive values and power to the people. We are a group of people who believe in the possibility of change and work to make it happen. Whether it's supporting a candidate, fighting to pass legislation, or working to change our culture, our members are committed to an inclusive and progressive future.